Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and Commissioner of Education Brenda Cassellius are proposing a wise, and historic change in Minnesota public education. They are recognizing reality: Minnesota has outstanding district and charter public schools. We need to honor and learn from them. So they have made a proposal to do that. In his State of the […]

Dozens of raised hands, and a new report from Minnesota Commissioner of Education Brenda Cassellius reflect good news. More Minnesota high school students are taking and passing challenging college level classes. Cassellius wisely praised the progress, and stressed the significant work left to do. The raised hands came when I asked about 50 emerging metro […]

Acknowledging mistakes is wise, not weak Several people surprised me last week. They were critical of a principal and a superintendent who changed their minds. I’ll say more about these specific situations in a minute. But today I want to talk about people, including me, who make mistakes, or are challenged by people who disagree with […]

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was direct when he spoke in Minnesota last week. While complementing some of Minnesota’s reforms and education accomplishments, Duncan pointed out that we have one of the nation’s largest achievement gaps between whites and students of color. He is “shocked” that Minnesota does not have stronger “alternative routes” into […]

What advice do educators have for Minnesota families starting to think about what schools their child/children will attend next year? At one point, families had no public school choices. But over the last 25 years, the Legislature has given families new public school options via open enrollment, area learning centers, charter pubic schools and Post […]